Blogging is posting comments that one feels is of interest to the reading public. Those of you who blog know how difficult that can be. Similar questions arise: What in my life would interest you?
There's no easy answer to that. But witnessing the inauguration last month brings to mind that what draws us together is our humanity. It's the one thing that binds all nations under God. And therefore seems like a good subject for blogging.
As a Canadian, I was moved by the inauguration. While liste…
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Added by joylene butler on February 3, 2009 at 4:17am —
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Last night I dreamed I was transported back to the farm I grew up on. I sat at the kitchen table talking to my dad, who's been gone since 1983. I explained to him that I'd returned from the future. He gave me 100% of his attention, then asked some questions. When I told him I was married and lived on a lovely lake in central B.C., his beautiful blue eyes glazed over; I think he was picturing himself sitting on our deck or fishing in our lake. He looked sad when I told him his grandson was also a…
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Added by joylene butler on December 25, 2008 at 1:58am —
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I had the privilege of interviewing author Marta Stephens about her second book The Devil Can Wait. If you have a moment, please stop by. Marta is an outstanding writer and an inspiration.
http://cluculzwriter.blogspot.com
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Added by joylene butler on December 2, 2008 at 3:38am —
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Yesterday morning I read chapter one of
Dead Witness at
CFIS 93.1 FM in Prince George, BC.
I didn't realize just how stressed I'd been. In fact, up to that point, I was pretty impressed with my calm attitude. Ben Meisner is a popular radio personality in BC, and I conversed with him as if he were my neighbour. Then I sat down with Reg Feyer and recorded my first chapter without a hiccup. It airs Monday night at 6…
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Added by joylene butler on November 29, 2008 at 6:04am —
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The sun's shining, the lake is smooth like glass, people are fishing, water-skiing... but don't kid yourself, summer is over. Especially for those of us in the north. (We're in central B.C., but for the sake of argument, let's say "north" includes everywhere north of the mid-States) The end of summer means more cloudy days, cold weather, rain and finally five to six months of winter. No more warm, lazy days laying in the sun, sipping cold drinks with fancy names, and hearing children's laughter…
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Added by joylene butler on September 9, 2008 at 2:00pm —
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Despite being a child of the 50s, growing up during the woman's movement, I'm still a product of my parents generation. They raised me by the standards of the times, and though I often tried to shake those ideals, they're part of who I am today.
My father was the breadwinner, my mother the homemaker. By the time I came along they had already lived through a world war, stood in line for bread, and bought things without the aid of credit. During my teens I looked upon their philosophy and beliefs…
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Added by joylene butler on July 27, 2008 at 5:30am —
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My daughter-in-law called tonight to congratulate me on the release of my novel Dead Witness and the subsequent interview in The Prince George Citizen. Then she said something that I'm just now pondering.
In the paper's interview, Mr. Strickland asked about my other manuscripts; I've written five, three of which are in various stages of editing. Although my daughter-in-law and I have known each other for years, she was surprised by how little she knew of my books. She had to read the interview…
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Added by joylene butler on July 18, 2008 at 8:42am —
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Last week my neighbour called. She works nights so we don't see each other as often as I'd like. She's one of those special people, the kind that would give you her last loaf of bread or cup of coffee. A genuine person. Someone I liked right from the start.
I knew as soon as I heard her voice that something was wrong. She asked if my husband was home. He wasn't. I said, "What's wrong?" then waited for what I knew would be bad news. There's a voice that people inevitably use when they're hurting…
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Added by joylene butler on July 12, 2008 at 7:31am —
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I've been reading my favourite blogs this weekend; aside from admiring the weather outside my window. As I read, I'm stuck by the similarities between writers. So many of us share strong commonalities. We'd rather write than go to a party, attend a banquet, or shop with a friend. And I've forgotten how many times I've heard a gifted, talented writer say, "I terrified they'll discover I'm a fraud." Or another state: "I don't know why I think I can write -- I can't." And yet another: "If I don't p…
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Added by joylene butler on June 29, 2008 at 1:58pm —
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Even if you aren't a writer, the amount of knowledge available online is ... daunting. Or for want of a better word: frightening-intimidating-overwhelming-mind-boggling, and let's not forget head-spinning.
How can we possibly read everything? Or ever hope to remember a faction of what we do manage to read?
There are days when I literally feel like Linda Blair in The Exorcist, minus the green puke ejecting from my throat. I'm glued to my chair, wandering from page to page, never quite finished…
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Added by joylene butler on June 26, 2008 at 11:55am —
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(POSTED EARLIER)
Three blogs does not a blogger make.
I’ll get to the reason for that in a moment.
Early April my desktop computer crashed. It was just a few days after my good buddy bought one of those nifty new laptops with the built-in camera. I was neither envious nor frazzled. In fact, I wasn’t sweating a thing. I had my trusty old laptop. A Celeron almost seven years old and still running like a charm.
Ha!
Three days into my publishing forte it betrayed me by waking up with the…
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Added by joylene butler on June 21, 2008 at 8:05am —
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A few mornings ago I had the pleasure of reading The Ultimate Reward by Aaron Paul Lazar. It's a lovely piece about the rewards a writer sometimes fails to discover. It made me question my own reasons for writing. Did I too have dreams of being on Oprah and Larry King? Being on the top of the NY Times bestseller's list? Or gracing the cover of The New Yorker?
Not in the beginning; I still had images of Margaret Laurence, author of The Stone Angel being interviewed in her kitchen with a countert…
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Added by joylene butler on June 20, 2008 at 3:52pm —
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I used up the entire morning trying to figure out how to add links to my blog, but--Enough already! I'm on a roll with this: "A day in the Life of a Writer" stuff.
DEAD WITNESS isn't my first novel. I started with Alway's Father's Child, a coming-of-age story about the complicated relationship between a woman and her dad. Suffice to say, it was a 7-year learning tool. The book's on a shelf somewhere amongst my clutter, collecting dust.
DEAD WITNESS was my true beginning as a storyteller. The s…
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Added by joylene butler on June 19, 2008 at 3:07am —
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Blogging has become the norm. Everyone has one. It's the in-thing to do.
I resisted for years, believing no one would want to hear what I have to say. And that in itself is a strange thought considering I'm a writer.
Only I'm more of a storyteller. My compositions are derived from my imagination. Not my often mundane life. I sit at a computer for hours, days, something months without contributing to the world around me. What could I say that was worth your time to read?
And then it struck me…
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Added by joylene butler on June 18, 2008 at 2:22pm —
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CHAPTER 1
Camera in hand, Valerie McCormick stepped from the bus into intense daylight. She put on her sunglasses and crossed the grass to the edge of the hill. Seattle's skyline loomed in the distance like a giant sandcastle. Closer in, waves rocked elegant yachts, sailboats, and cruisers docked at brown scribbled wharves, jutting along the waterfront. Fifty feet below her, a chain linked fence enclosed acres of quiet warehouses, buildings, and small sheds in both directions. Just insi…
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Added by joylene butler on May 26, 2008 at 2:36am —
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